The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Guide is a critical handbook for the many restaurants that inhibit Sydney and its respected regions across New South Wales. It's very appreciated being listed in the Guide as not all restaurants/cafes make the final selection. The guide itself outlines the details of a restaurant, such as the chef and owners, website, seating, and anything else of interest the reader might know. Restaurants are given a rating out of twenty, with a score of fifteen acquiring a hat. This essay will attempt to determine the importance of award-winning chef hats and why it is important for the restaurant that obtains the hats to keep them. The Good Food Guide is a manual in which editors from around the country work together to review and critique a restaurant based on food, service and atmosphere. The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Guide focuses on restaurants in the New South Wales region, the majority of which hail from Sydney. Terry Durack and Joanna Savill are the editors of the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Guide and work with other critics to determine restaurant ratings. Hats are awarded based on meeting the correct criteria. Based on taste, menu balance, atmosphere and professionalism, it is ranked out of twenty. To acquire at least one chef's hat a minimum score of fifteen is required, while a score of sixteen and seventeen will award the restaurant two chef's hats. A three chef hat rating requires a score of eighteen or more, and only three restaurants were considered with such an honor in Sydney in 2011; being est., Marque and Quay. It is important for a restaurant to win chef hats because of high esteem and integrity...... middle of paper...... the result is that people vehemently express their opinions online blogs. Many chefs also wonder about the meaning of chef hats and whether they are really worth the stress it causes. Therefore, through the points identified above, the Guide itself is a vital tool in explicitly maintaining the standards of the Australian food scene. It's a highly regarded primer in the depths of Sydney and its outer regions for locating high-quality places to wine and dine. Factors taken into consideration included the atmosphere, the quality of the dish and the professionalism of the staff. The consequences of winning chef hats translate into increased customer acquisition, increased acclaim for the restaurant in question, and overall recognition for excellent service. Therefore, it is evident that winning the chef's hat is important for the reputation of a restaurant, as it is a successful promoter for business..